The shareholders of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc have endorsed the formal takeover of Savannah Sugar Company Ltd .According to a statement by a spokesperson of the conglomerate, the shareholders of DSR during their Extraordinary General Meeting , voted in favour of the merger of the two company as the sub-Saharan Africa’s largest sugar refining firm embarked on the next stage of its backward integration plan to revolutionized the sugar sub-sector of the nation’s economy.
According to him, Savannah Sugar has 32,000 hectares of land available for cultivation of sugar cane as well as milling capacity of 50,000 tonnes of sugar per annum and that upon the merger, further investments would be made to increase SSCL land under cultivation. Mr Dangote explained that necessary approvals have been given by all concerned regulatory authorities and that the merger would positively alter the sugar sectorial landscape as the federal government’s backward integration policy would be better implemented by the company.
He appreciated that he was chosen to represent other shareholders at the AGM where attendance and participation were restricted because of the COVID-19 guidelines. Mr Nwosu was particular that management should increase production volume now that the borders are shut and develop export capabilities to increase sales and profit.